Joshua Stendahl elected to Eleva-Strum school board

The Eleva-Strum school board has a new member to fill a vacancy created when the longtime board president resigned suddenly this fall.

In a special election Tuesday to fill that vacancy, Joshua Stendahl totaled 427 votes compared with 338 for the other candidate in the race, Kristen Amundson Husby.

The special election was necessary to fill one vacant board spot when Lois Havenor stepped down in late September after being targeted in a recall petition.

A petition circulated by frustrated district residents claimed Havenor had abused her power, intimidated district employees and acted on occasions without the board’s consent. Residents said Havenor took certain issues to schools Superintendent Kellie Manning instead of to the rest of the school board.

Havenor denied those claims and said she was targeted by residents upset because of difficult budget decisions she was part of during the past two years.